


The Oryx Princess

by caraxreve



Category: Free!
Genre: Arabian AU, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-12
Updated: 2014-08-12
Packaged: 2018-02-12 07:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2100015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caraxreve/pseuds/caraxreve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin tells Ren and Ran a bedtime story... or at least he tries.</p><p>(This was originally intended for prompt 6: Arabian Au, of Rintori Week. Apologies for the late delivery ú_ù.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Oryx Princess

**Author's Note:**

> This work is not beta-ed. Please feel free to point any mistakes :).

 The Oryx Princess 

 

“ _‘Mira and Lobe, were like any other brother and sister’_.”

Rin lowered the book and stared at the children wearily. The twins blinked back at him unabashed. He turned his attention back to the book.

‘ _They lived in the big the city of Sikasa, but every summer vacation they’d go visit their grandmother who lived in the splendid port of Tiara-tió_.’

“Well, it certainly is putting me to sleep...”

‘ _Grandma Irina lived in a big white house over the cliffs…Mira and Lobe decided to go to the beach_ -’

“Hey, you just skipped half a page!”

“Shh! Pay attention to the story. _‘…playing inside a cavern near the sea, they found a rare egg…  A water dragon… T_ _he children slept under the rocks waiting for the Lady of the Mist..._ _And then_ -’ Oh, great! They’re back to the cavern… and they got themselves trapped in there. Way to go kids! That was pretty clever… ‘… _music box in order to’_ …KILL THE SHARK?”

“It's because the shark ate The Lady of the Light. They have to rescue her!”

“Totally uncalled for! Blah, blah, blah, the Lady of The Mist again, yet another lady-- Oh! you were right! Here come the children to the rescue of one of those ladies... Tch. This is pretty lame… Oh! Wait, wait: ‘ _The shark rose from the depths all high and mighty and ate all the obnoxious little children that didn’t go to bed when they were told to. THE END_.”

Rin closed the book with terminality. “Now off to sleep!”

Ren and Ran scowled at him unimpressed.

“You didn’t do it right! You skipped through the whole book.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes you did. And you made up the end!”

“Tch. How would you even know?”

“Because that’s our favorite story! Mom always reads it to us, Dad always reads it to us-”

“Aren’t you too old for this? Haven’t you learned how to read yet?”

“Of course we have! But Onii-chan always reads to us before going to sleep.”

“Well he’s busy now, so just go to bed.”

“Then go ask Haru-chan! He’s the one that reads to us if Onii-chan has to help with the dishes…”

“Haru-chan is the best at reading stories.” Ren informed him matter-of-factly. 

 

A deep frown settled on Rin’s face. This exactly what Haru had intended all along when he suggested Rin took the children upstairs and put them to bed. He could clearly picture Haru smirking at Makoto and telling everyone about Rin’s authority being overruled by couple of ten year-olds.  He was not about to give him the satisfaction. 

 “Alright, I’ll do it again. Give me the damn thing.”

Ren quickly reached for the book and pressed it against his chest.

“No, we want Haru-chan. Go bring Haru-chan!”

“He’s busy helping your brother. It’s fine, I’ll do it.”

“Haru-chan! Haru-chan! Haru-chan!”

Rin gritted his teeth and took a deep breath. There was no way he was letting some tiny rascals pull a mutiny under his watch.

 “Alright, alright! I’ll bring him. But then don’t go complaining about having missed _The Hidden Story_.”

“The Hidden Story? What Hidden Story?!”

“What?” He exclaimed with feign incredulity “You don’t know what a Hidden Story is?”

Ran bit her lip in consideration. Ren shook his head lightly.

“Ren!”

“But we don’t! And I want to know about it!”

Ran scoffed.

“Alright. What’s a _Hidden Story_?”

“A Hidden Story is a story within the story.” Rin took the book from Ren and opened it in the middle. “Do you see this book, how it has pictures and text on it?”

They nodded.

“Well, in between the lines and behind the pictures, there’s another story. Written and drawn with Hidden Ink. But you can’t see it, can you?”

The twins shook their heads.

“That’s because you don’t have The Revealing Eyes. You’d need to have them to be able to see what lies beneath.

Ren and Ran considered this for a minute.

“Is it because we’re young? Will we have them when we grow up?”

Rin shook his head.

“Only people with red eyes can see it.”

Ren and Ran stared back at him in fascination and before Rin knew it, they were eagerly clutching onto his jacket and bouncing on their knees.

 

“Please, please!  Tell us about it! We want to hear The Hidden Story!”

“Of course you do.” Rin flipped through the pages of the book making intrigued gestures. “This is a very special story, you know? I believe no one else has heard it before.”

“Not even Onii-chan?”

“Not even him.”

“Not even Haru-chan?”

“ _Especially_ not him!”

“Please, read it to us! Please, please!”

 “Nah…I don’t think so.”

“Why not?!”

“You’ll probably go around telling everyone.”

“We won’t! We won’t! Right, Ren?”

Ren nodded eagerly.

Rin stole a look at his earnest pleading faces, and smirked inwardly. Haru had absolutely  _nothing_ on him.

“Alright then. You have to promise not to tell anyone, though.”

 “We won’t! Not even Onii-chan!”

“Not even Haru-chan!”

“That’s more like it! Alright, here it goes…”

 

Rin sat on the bed and opened the book, making sure to take his time as he cleared his throat.

_‘Far, far away in the lands of the burning sun-’_

“What’s the name of the story?”

“Huh?”

“You didn’t tell us the name of the story.” 

“I did. It's called  _The Hidden Story_!”

They made a doubtful expression.

“It is! Why does that  matter anyways?”

“Does that mean that all the Hidden Stories inside other histories are called _The Hidden Story_? Isn’t that confusing? I think it is. How do people refer to them if they want to discuss- ”

“Fine, fine! _This_ story is called...  ‘ _The Oryx Princess_ ’”.

"Wow!"

“That’s so much better!” 

“Good. Now as I was saying, _‘Far, far away in the lands of the burning sun a sultan ruled over his sultanate in the-’_

“What’s a sultanate?”

“It’s a group of lands ruled by a sultan.”

“Oh! Like a kingdom?”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s make him a king then. ‘ _The king_ _ruled over his_ _kingdom in the middle of the vastest desert of the world._ _At first, the desert had been harsh and unforgiving, but The King was dauntless. He had tamed the wild and made his empire thrive even in the midst of adversity.’_

Rin stopped as he noticed Ren looking at Ran questioningly.

“It probably means that he was very rich and powerful or... something like that.”

“It does, actually. Now pay attention.”

_‘The king lived in a huge palace the color of dark chocolate and the insides were decorated with lush fabrics, precious treasures and lots of expensive jewels. The palace however, was nothing compared to the splendid pool behind it. This pool was surrounded by marvelous pillars that reached all the way to the sky; and the pool itself was so big, you couldn’t even see the end of it! It was so deep, that even whales were afraid to drown in it!’_

“Whales? In the desert?”

“Why not? They were The King’s pets! He could've had whales if he wanted to. He also had sharks, lots of sharks! And fish too, an ocean of colorful fish! Seals, manta rays, turtles... you name it! All the sea animals that you can imagine! _Except_ dolphins! No stupid dolphins were allowed!”

Ren leaned to whisper something to her sister.

“What now.”

“What about the princess?” Ran ventured.

“Huh??”

“ Yeah, The Onyx Princess. That’s the name of the story, so-”

“ _Oryx_ , not Onyx! It’s not the same. And yes, I’m coming right to it. I just thought it was important to establish how amazing this king was.”

Rin cleared his throat before continuing. 

 

“Anyways, _The Princess_. ‘ _All over the world, people would talk about the beauty of The Princess. He was the most_ -’”

“ _What?_ The princess is a boy?”

“Boys can be princesses too, Ren.”  

“I know that, Ran. I just thought they were called prin _ces_ instead!”

“He can’t be a prince because _the prince_ is _The King_! The King is the prince and this boy is his princess, don’t you see?"

Rin nodded solemnly.

Ren frowned for a second before deciding to just take his sister’s word for it, and turned his attention back to Rin.

 

“So The Princess, ‘he _was beautiful beyond belief! His hair was lavender like the desert sky at dusk. His eyes were blue like the vibrant mosaics of the city fountains. His lips were pink like the burning clouds at sunset. His face was embellished with a beauty spot  right under his right eye and his smile was warmer and brighter than the sun...’_ ”

“Wow...”

“Yes, he was very beautiful; but that’s not the only reason King Rin fell in love with him. ' _The Princess was also kind, supportive_ -'”

 “Wait a minute. ‘King Rin’? Why does the King have the same name as yours?”

“Because ' _Rin'_  is a pretty freaking cool name, alright. It’s a name befitting a King! Now shut up and listen.”

“No but wait! What about The Princess, what’s his name?”

“Princess Ai.”

“Ai! Ai like ‘love’?”

“Exactly like that.”

Ren and Ran grinned at each other.

 

“Now, as this stories have it, _‘King Rin and Princess Ai were very much in love and they were going to be married as soon as Princess Ai came of age. However, there was this terrible, hideous, HORRIBLE man, by the name of Captain Shiba-_ ’”

“Captain? WAS HE A PIRATE?!”

“What, no! What business could a pirate even have in the desert? No! Captain of the guards; as in soldiers. ' _He had power and command over the army of the kingdom, and he wanted Princess Ai for himself_!'”

“That’s terrible!”

“I don’t know…” Ren intervened. “if this princess is _that_ beautiful, isn’t it possible the Captain couldn’t help but fall in love with-”

“NO!”

The twins jumped and held on to each other.

“NEVER! He doesn’t love him like King Rin does! He takes everything that King Rin holds dear and tries to pervert it!”

“ ‘Pervert’?”

“I mean- Never mind about that, okay? MOVING ON!”

Rin turned to the next page.

_‘Everyday, Princess Ai and King Rin met at the King’s pool. Princess Ai loved playing with the seals and swimming with The King. That day, however, Princess Ai didn’t show up._

_Sick with worry at the thought that something awful had happened, King Rin immediately went to look for him but no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to find him._

_At last, when the sun set, he decided to go see The Vizier; who was sort of…_ (well yeah, what the heck, he was actually his friend).

_The Vizier was a studied man, he knew ALL the answers to ALL the questions! He’d look into his crystal glasses and always find the answers.’_

“Like a Sorcerer!”

“Pretty much. So, ‘ _The Vizier told The King, that just as he had suspected, evil Captain Shiba had captured Princess Ai and locked him inside the choir room of the palace. Where he forced Princess Ai to sing for him day and night._ _King Rin was furious, and a bit sad actually. So along with The Vizier they decided to think of a plan to rescue Princess Ai.’"_

“Um…”

“What. Now, what!”

“I don’t get it… Why did the Captain lock down The Princess in The King’s own palace? How come the Captain is more powerful than the King? Why doesn’t he just throw him in jail?”

“Good point, Ren!”

 “The Capitan is EVIL, okay? How am I supposed to know about his twisted ways? Stop asking so many questions about this jerk!”

“Maybe he was a sorcerer too, like the Vizier, Maybe he enchanted the army…?” Ran offered in a conciliatory tone.

“It might be so. Besides, HE’S NOT IMPORTANT. In fact, he’s about to jump off a cliff and leave this story for good!”

The children cheered in excitement. 

 

 “Now where was I?”

“The Vizier and The King were planning to rescue The Princess!”

“You bet they were!” ‘ _After carefully thought planning_ ,  _King Rin easily infiltrated the place, wreaked havoc and took Princess Ai with him._

_Meanwhile, The Vizier waited for them at the exit of the city with a couple of horses, ready to make their escape into the neighboring kingdom._

_The Captain however,was a HUGE pain in the ass. In spite of the fact that King Rin had repeatedly ran his sword through him, dropped a massive chandelier on his head, and even set him on fire, the insufferable pest had somehow managed to chase after them.'_

"Now kids, you must keep in mind that Captain Shiba was a very evil man, even his horse was done with shit!" _'So when the group got to the edge of cliff ,the three horses that belonged to The Vizier, The Princess and The King, jumped effortlessly to the other side, whereas Captain Shiba’s horse made an abrupt halt and threw that loser’s ass off the cliff head first.’_

“Yaaaay!”

“I’m not done yet.”

The children lowered their arms in defeat.

_‘Eventhough he was stumbling down the cliff, he still had the nerve to cast a spell on Princess Ai! '_

“No!”

“Yes.”

_**‘My evilness will not be ceased,** _

_**By all the sorcery of the Middle East** _

_**At the very least** _

_**I’ll turn Princess Ai into a four legged beast! '** _

Ren and Ran snorted in disapproval.

“Captain Shiba is pretty lame…”

“FINALLY! Thank you very much!" Rin exclaimed with his hands in the air "Anyways, I’m pretty sure that evil weed survived the fall, but at least he’s off the story for now."

 

_‘There was a huge explosion! Thunder, lightning, dust, a storm! They were all thrown off their horses, and sucked in by a huge tornado. They spun round and round until they lost consciousness. And several hours later, when The King managed to open his eyes, he discovered  that The Princess had vanished.'_

 “Vanished? I thought he had been turned into an animal ...”

“He was! But give the  King a break, alright? He had just woken up after being tossed around the dessert by a freaking tornado and was currently lying in the middle of the dry pastures surrounded by a herd of oryxes."

“But The Princess is one of those oryxes isn’t he? Because that’s the name of the story!”

“That _is_ the name of story, and more importantly it certainly seemed like just the kind of thing Captain Shiba could come up with."

 

_' "This is a tragedy, Rin-chan-san-sama” The Vizier announced “it is impossible to tell The Princess apart!" '_

“So what did they do?!”

“Easy kid, this is King Rin’s true love we’re talking about". ‘ _He knew everything there was to know about Princess Ai. What he liked, what he didn’t, his favorite color, his favorite song and of course his favorite food: marzipan.’_

“Marzipan?”

“It’s a kind of candy made with sugar and almonds and shaped in the form of a rose. Geez kids! Learn a little, travel the world!”

“We’re ten!”

“Hadly an excuse. Anyways, as I was saying, _‘...marzipan was Princess Ai's favorite treat, so naturally, King Rin always carried some with him._

_“Vizier, my friend. You fret for no reason! Of course I can tell Princess Ai apart!”_

_The King pulled the rose shaped sweet from his pocket and placed it in front of the oryxes hoping to get Princess Ai’s attention.’_

“That’s kind of clever.” Ren admitted.

“‘ _Kind of clever’_? Kid, that’s downright brilliant!"  ' _Still, things didn’t exactly turn out as planned, B_ _efore The Princess even had a chance to get closer, a vicious sand cat came out of nowhere and snatched the marzipan away. This caused a commotion among the oryxes, who scattered around and disappeared into a cloud of sand._ _And just like that The Princess was gone again.'_

 

“And now what?”

“Now they would have to go and see The Queen of the Oasis, what else?”

“Who is that?”

“A Nymph, the only kind of magical creature capable of reversing evil spells casted in desertic lands. And Queen Gou, Queen of the Nymphs, was the most powerful of them all.”

"Is a nymph like a mermaid?”

 “Sort of, except that nymphs are more like Goddesses. They not only sing but they dance too, and unlike the mermaids, they take full human appearance of young maidens; legs and all. Also, the Nymphs do not live in the ocean. They dwell in magical bodies of water instead.”

“But where are they going to find magical water in the middle of the desert?”

“Well, there laid the difficulty of the task: nobody knew where the dwelling of The Queen of The Oasis was.”

“Not even The Vizier?”

“Not even him. But he did have a clue on where to start.”

“Where?”

“The Fata Morgana.”

The children blinked in astonishment.

“The _what_? What is that?”

_'All over King Rin’s kingdom rumor had it, that after traveling painfully long distances across the desert, just when the travelers thought they were about to lose themselves in madness, they would come across a white floating castle in the middle of an oasis'._

“If I were the Queen of the Oasis, that’s exactly where I would be!”

“Me too! So did The King and The Vizier went to this castle?”

“Not so, fast. The thing with the Fata Morgana was, that although several people would talk about its existence, the exact location wasn’t charted on any maps. Therefore, The King and The Vizier had no idea on how to look for something that couldn't be found.”

“But there had to be a way! All that other people had somehow found it before, right?”

“There was. And it was The Vizier who came up with the theory that The Fata Morgana was probably concealed inside a mirage.”

“I do know what a mirage is! It’s when it’s really hot and you start seeing ripples that are not really there!”

“Exactly. But let me tell you something else about mirages. They are the most dreadful places on earth. Those ripples you see at first? That’s just the manifestation of the mirage, the true horror lies in their ability to show you things that are not really there to make you go mad.”

“L-like what? What kind of things?”

"You know: ‘ _biggest fears, truest desires... In King Rin's case he would  hear Princess Ai’s voice calling for help. He would undergo unendurable struggle to rescue him, just to have Princess Ai die in his arms in the end.'"_

The children gasped in horror.

“Chill out, kids. Princess Ai is not dying. All these things were happening inside King Rin’s mind remember?  The Vizier always used his magic to break the illusions and bring him back."

Ren and Ran hesitated.

“It still sounds awful. Besides, the desert is probably full of mirages! How could they know which one of was the Fata Morgana for real?”

“It _was_ awful, and they had absolutely no way to know. _‘They kept doing the same thing, over and over again. And even though King Rin felt like he was at the limit of his strength, I assure you, his love for The Princess never faltered.  Because no matter how dreadful this was, it was nothing compared to the idea of giving up Princess Ai.'”_

Ran clutched her pillow to her chest as she nodded in agreement. 

 

 _'One night, as they were resting below a small cave made of rocks, King Rin heard Princess Ai calling for him. He immediately stepped outside._ _He knew it  was probably another mirage... but whenever Princess Ai called King Rin would  always answer._

 _There was a_ _weird hissing noise coming from the dry bushes. The King raised his sword and prepared to strike. As he got closer to the plant however, he noticed a small sand cat tangled  up in the torns.  He_ _immediately dropped his sword and gently pried the creature off the trap. The clanking sound of metal awoke the Vizier._

_“Rin-chan-san-sama! I heard noises, are you alright?”_

_King Rin turned around and showed him the bulk in his arms._

_“But if it's the fowl creature that ate the candy intended for The Princess!"_

_"What?"_

_"Back with the herd of oryxes! Has he been following us all along?"_

_"Yes, because there's but one sand cat in the whole desert..."_

_"Do you think I would ever forget the looks of the vile creature that placed us under our current predicament? Rin-chan-san-sama, I assure you, that's the very same cat!"_

_King Rin brought the cat close to his face to examine it closely._

_“It might be so... you can’t really blame him, though. Look at him, he’s so small! He must’ve been hungry.”_

_He reached for the canteen in his belt and offered some water to the kitten._

_"A-Are you going to tend to him?!"_

_"What do you want it to die?" '_

“DID THE CAT DIE?”

“What, no! Kids, this is fairy tale _nobody_ is going to die, alright?"

“The captain did…”

“He’s _evil_! And no, he didn’t. He just got thrown off a cliff! Geez, learn the difference.”

“Okay, okay. So what happened to the cat?”

 _'King Rin tended to his wounds and kept an eye on him during the night . Next morning he was doing so much better and King Rin tried to feed him some dried meat, except that cat wouldn't take any. W_ _orried that it would perish from starvation, King Rin ended up offering him one of Princess Ai’s marzipan. (_ _Ai surely wouldn’t mind. He had such a kind heart, and he would understand.) If things came to worst though, and this cat insisted on feasting on the candy, he’d make sure to save the very last piece for Ai._

_The King was relieved when the cat started  lazily licking at the candy. The Vizier not that much._

_“Rin-chan-san-sama, I extremely advice you against feeding him. If you do so, there’ll be no way of getting rid of it later."_

_"Why would I want to get rid of it?"_

_"Need I remind you, that despite their endearing appearance sand cats are perfectly capable of ripping a human throat apart?”_

_“Well you better watch your mouth around him then, Marzipan stays.”_

_“You gave him A NAME?”’_

 

“I think is great that King Rin helped the cat. Cats are very smart and they have a great sense of smell. He’d have no problem following Princess Ai’s scent!”

“Those are dogs, Ren.”

Rin chuckled.

“Your sister is right. However, this cat is extremely important to the story. If it weren’t for him they would've probably stayed lost in the desert forever...”

“See?” Ren pointed out. “How come?”

"Sand cats, like all desert animals, are immune to the trickery of the mirages..."

 

' _As soon as he_   _noticed the approaching mirage, he began tugging at the bottom of King Rin's pants._ __The King gently stroked his fur to make him at ease, but the cat just wouldn’t let go._ _

_"It’s alright Marzipan, we won’t let anything happen to you...”_

_“Rin-chan-san-sama, the mirage is getting closer! If we don’t go through it now it’s going to fade soon!”_

_King Rin swiftly picked up the cat and placed him over a rock._

_“Stay there.”_

_And then he and The Vizier lunged towards the mirage._

_Except that Marzipan jumped from the rock, snatched away The Vizier’s staff and started running in the opposite direction._

_"H-He took my staff!"_

_The Vizier immediately went after him._

_"You wicked thing give it back!"_

_King Rin called after The Vizier, and then turned  his eyes to the almost indistinguishable mirage._

_He hesitated for a minute before deciding against it. He stood absolutey no chance without his friend's magic._

_He turned on his heels and chased after them growling in frustration._

_“Marzipan, what the hell!  I’ve been advocating for you this whole time and this is how you choose to repay me?!”_

_And then time suddenly slowed down…_

_The land went void of sound and color and King Rin felt as if he were running through water. He could see The Vizier and the cat in front of him, moving as in slow motion. He tried to warn them about this but his voice wouldn’t come out of his mouth.’_

 

Rin made a sudden pause, relishing on Ren and Ran’s enthralled expressions.

“And then?"

"Tell us what happened next!”

 

 _'Then it was all over, just as soon as it had started. Sound,color and fluid motions they all came back. King Rin lost his balance and fell to the ground. The Vizier had fallen too and the cat had finally stopped running._ _He casually released the staff and curled up to lie in the ground as if it was nothing._

_“What the hell just happened?”_

_“I-I think the mirage went right through us!”_

_"That's impossible, mirages would do anything to lure you in, that's the whole point!"_

_"Maybe they can't if you're not facing them directly..."_

_King Rin got to his feet and retrieved Marzipan from the ground._

_“Oi! What did you that for? We could’ve been killed!”_

_The cat hissed at him angrily, and Rin frowned._

_“I I don't care, I'm supposed to go inside! How else will I be able to find him if not?"_

_Marzipan scratched at him viciously._

_“Son of a-!” Rin let go of him taking his hand to his mouth. The cat strutted away offended._

_“Y _ou wouldn’t be jealous if you knew him! You’d totally be all over him too!”__

_“Rin-chan-san-sama, wait. I think the cat is trying to tell us something.”_

_“What, are you out of your mind?!"_

_"I think the _cat has the ability to discern The Fata Morgana from common mirages, h__ _e must be able to perceive something we cannot._ _If we trust his instincts, we can travel faster and find The Princess quicker! I believe it's worth the try..."_

_King Rin turned his attention to the cat, who stared right back at him with a sullen expression._

_“Come here you, my precious little thing!”_

_The cat snapped at him and went to hide behind The Vizier._

_“Oh, come on! Really? Don’t you remember he didn’t even want you to come in the first place?”_

_“Rin-chan-san-sama! Please don’t upset the cat!”_

_The sand cat seemed to suddenly remember this and hopped over a rock with the unmistakable intention of leaving for good. Rin hurriedly climbed the rock and seized the cat before it could get any farther. He pressed him closely to his chest._

_“I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry I yelled at you. I just really need to find Ai. Please,_ please _would you help us?”_

_The sand cat squirmed and tried to claw at Rin’s face, but Rin just held on to him tighter. In the end Marzipan, gave up and begrudgingly let himself be hugged.'_

 

"Did it work?”

“Did what work?”

“Was Marzipan able to help?”

“You bet! ' _Of all the animal species of the desert, the sand cat has the acutest  sense of hearing.  In time The Vizier realized the cat could actually hear the faraway song of The Queen of the Oasis and this set them in the right direction. They rode non-stop, during 3 days and 3 nights, and with the rising sun of the fourth morning they finally  found themselves in front of The Fata Morgana_.' "

“Marzipan is awesome!”

"Yeah, cats are pretty cool..."

"And what about the castle? Was it really floating over the water?"

"It was _, 'and underneath its protective shadow there were a lot of nymphs dancing and playing in the water.  One of them stood out though, she had red hair like the burning sun of the desert and  she was the fairest and the prettiest of them all. That one was Queen Gou. And she immediately advised the other Nymphs to stop their recreations in favor of seeing to their guests.'"_

_'"Be at ease, weary travelers for you have reached The Realm of the Sacred Waters, where you shall find solace to your pain."_

 

 _It was all very impressive and formal, so of course Marzipan chose that exact moment to come up with his usual shenanigans. He noisily jumped_ _back and forth between Rin and the shore, as if he wanted to taste the water but was terrified of drowning. So while King Rin saw to the unruly cat, the Vizier spoke to The Queen:_

_“Gou-san-sama, Ruler of the Nymphs, Queen of the Oasis. This is King Rin, Ruler of the Kingdom of the Seven Gills, and I'm his Vizier. We have ventured this far and we have but a single request. An evil sorcerer under the name of Shiba, former Captain of The King’s guard, casted a terrible curse upon King Rin’s betrothed: Princess Aiichirou from the Kingdom of The Water Birds.”_

_“And what is the nature of said curse, Vizier of The King?”_

_“He turned Princess Ai into a freaking Oryx! Please, help us turn him back!”_

_“I see, there’s no need to fret, King Rin of  Seven Gills. I would gladly help you. You only need for The Oryx Princess to drink from The Sacred Waters of this Oasis. A small sip of this water will do.”'_

 

"WHAT?"

 

 

_'"Gou-san-sama, we are currently unaware of Princess Aiichirou’s whereabouts. If you however, would be so kind as if  to allow us to take small sample of your Sacred Water..."_

_“Noble Vizier, It pains me to telI  you that  I cannot comply with this request. T _he moment the  Sacred Water  leaves its source _, it immediately turns to sand..."__  _

 

_King Rin fell to his knees, and buried his fingers in the sand in an attempt to ground himself before his soul left his body through his tears._

_"My dear King, I_ _speak from the heart when I say I wish there was some other way I could help you..."_

_Marzipan hurriedly climbed up his legs and pressed himself against his chest tenderly. Rin unconsciously cradled he kitten and rubbed his wet cheeks against his comforting fur._

_Then everything became warmth and light._

 

_The King opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by dancing sparks floating amidst a yellow glow as the white-furred kitten morphed into a humanoid shape: Princess Ai._

_“AI! But-- How?!”_

_The Princess opened his eyes and threw his arms around The King’s neck, tears of joy and relief streaking his cheeks._

_"Rin!"_

_“It was you? You were with me all along, and I didn’t notice? I’m sorry, Ai, I’m so sorry!” He took of his cape and wrapped it around Princess Ai's body, pulling him close._

_"But you did! You came to my aid and you nurtured me back to life. You cared for me, you kept me by your side. Rin, r_ _emember when you said you would do anything in your power so that we would always be together?"_

_Rin nodded with a chuckle._

_"You said half of it was more than enough for you were doing the other half..."_

_"Exactly, that's what us Princesses do: travel the desert, fight mirages and look for The Queen of the Oasis;  with our King, side by side."_

 

_THE END'_

"Did King Rin have powers too?"

"No. Why do ask?"

"I thought that only the Sacred Water could break the curse... How come King Rin was able to do this on his own?”

“Because no sacred water is more powerful than true love, Ran."

"Oh!" Ran paused for a moment. "What about the kiss though? Why didn't they kiss and live happily ever after?”

“Of course they lived happily ever after! And, just give them some privacy about this kiss business, alright?”

Ren and Ran nodded happily as Rin helped them settle under the covers.

 

“That was the most amazing story ever!”

“Rin Onii-chan, would you come back to read another story tomorrow.”

“Tch. What happed to Haru being the best story teller?” 

“Haru-chan is good too…maybe he can read the original story and you can read the Hidden Story right after?”

“Yes, yes please!

“Hmh, how convenient for you. We’ll see. Time to sleep now.”

Rin leaned over to place the book on the night stand and Ran sat up to place a quick kiss on his cheek.

“Good night, Rin Onii-chan.”

 “Yeah, yeah, good night.”

He walked to the exit and switched off the light.

 

 

Rin quietly pulled the door close and as soon as he faced the hallway he jumped back with a start.

“WHAT THE HELL?!

Haru, Makoto, Ai, Nagisa and Rei were all sitting at the top of the stairs, whispering and giggling conspiratorially.

“W-were you guys LISTENING?!”

They made shushing noises and signaled for him to join them.  Rin froze, his eyes immediately drawn to Ai.

"Rin, just get over here already."

Rin shot a furious glare at Haru, but eventually complied with his demand.

 

"Have you all lost your fucking minds? Were you actually eavesdropping on a _bed time story_?"

"Sorry, Rin, we couldn't help it. You did such a good job!  I’m afraid you’ll have to come every day from now on. There’s no way they twins  are going to be satisfied with just a regular story, right Haru?”

Haru shrugged noncomitally.

“It could've been worse.”

" _Could've been worse?_ "

The air left his lungs as Nagisa pratically tackled him to the ground.

“Rin-chan! You’re so mean!  Why did you only put Rei-chan in your story? What about me? I wanted to be part of the story too!”

“G-geroffme!”

But Nagisa didn't, and suddenly Rei was all over him as well. 

“I personally enjoyed your story very much, Rin-san. And I cannot express, just how truly grateful and sincerely honored I am  for you modeling the character of The Vizier after my person. It is with the utmost humility that-”

“CUT IT OFF! It wasn’t you, you idiot!”

“Excuse me?”

“Don't flatter yourself. That's just some character I made up!”

“But how could it not be me! The quick thinking, the practical approach, the heroic behavior-”

“Rin-chan is right." Nagisa intervened finally letting go of Rin's shouders "There's no way _that_ could've been Rei-chan.”

“Nagisa-kun, it is quite evident that you’re just saying that out of spite for not being included in the story. Please refrain from such disagreeable behavior." 

“Haru-chan, agrees with me don’t you Haru-chan?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t even paying attention.”

“Please say something,  Makoto-senpai?”

“I-I think it is best if we leave Rin’s story open for interpretation, don't you think?”

“Except for Princess Ai…” Nagisa grined satisfactorily shifting his eyes between Rin and Nitori.

 

There was a prolonged heavy silence in which, all eyes fell over Nagisa. Then Makoto and Rei spoke at once.

“Nagisa!”/ “Nagisa-kun!”

 “What, it's true! I wasn’t here to hear it from the start but-“

Rin raised his eyebrows in surprise as he saw Haru place a hand over Nagisa’s mouth.

“Makoto, we’re going to wake up Ran and Ren...”

Makoto nodded and immediately got up to his feet.

“Rei, would you mind giving us a hand in the kitchen? We got caught up in Rin’s story and there are still so many things to do…”

“Absolutely, Makoto-senpai.”

They made quite a show of leaving, especially Nagisa whose opinionated voice could still be heard all the way from the first floor ( _I thought they were already dating_!).

 

Rin cast a quick glance in Ai’s direction and let out an inward sigh.  As awkward as this was for him, it was probably a thousand times worse for Ai.  He had invited him to Makoto's sleepover so that he could get to know his friends better, only Rin had forgotten how absurd his friends could get sometimes. 

What made matters worse, was that Nagisa’s perception on their relationship was far from being mistaken. Rin _definitely_ wanted to date Ai. He had spent the last three weeks working up both strategies and the courage to bring up the subject just to always deflect it somehow.

“I’m sorry, Rin-senpai.”

This brought Rin back to his senses.

“What! Why?"

"I didn't mean to... We were all in the kitchen and Nanase-kun decided to follow you to see how it went. When neither of you came back Tachibana-kun, got worried that you two might be arguing. He didn't come back either. I wasn’t sure what to do so I went back to the living room. They spotted me from the stairs and Nanase-kun signaled for me to join them… I’m sorry, Senpai. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop or anything-”

Rin placed his hands on Ai's shoulders.

“Ai, you don’t have to apologize to me. If anything, it should be me the one apologizing!"

"Y-you? Why?"

"Did they... Did they give you a hard time during…”

“They didn’t.” Ai said all too quickly.

Rin let out a sigh.

“You don’t have to cover for them, Ai.”

“I’m not Rin-senpai, they really didn’t!”

“Do you really expect me to believe Nagisa capable of such adult behavior?”

“Hazuki-kun was sitting next to me, he kept squeezing my hand and grinning enthusiastically the whole time. I really didn’t mind, it felt like he was really happy for me. It was nice."

Rin let  his hands drop to his side, a funny feeling bubbling in his stomach at the thought of his friends being happy for him and Ai. 

 

"Senpai, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Remember last Monday after practice that you asked me to stay behind?”

“Yeah…”

“You said, that I was doing okay. And that I didn’t have to push myself too hard because… we were a team. And that as Captain of a team, me trying half _that_ hard was just enough because you were there to help me with the other half...”

Rin nodded, willing his expression to remain calm.

“Was that, is that—because at the end of the story... Senpai, last Monday, were you trying to-”

“Yes.”

Rin felt  his heart jump as Ai’s cheeks flushed scarlet.

 

“Look, Ai. I’ve been trying—I mean I’ve been _wanting_ to tell you for quite a while now. This was— this is hardly the way to do it. I’m sorry you found out about it this way, but-”

“I’m not!"

He tugged softly at the front of Rin jacket. 

"I'm just... all too happy..."

Rin looked into his eyes and felt Ai slowly wrapping him up in the sweet preamble of the impending contact. His upper body instinctively leaned forward, his heart beat sped up, his breathing slowed down, his mouth parted lightly, and just before their lips were about to touch, he heard a soft giggling noise coming  from behind. 

Rin twisted his head back.

Ren and Ran were curiously peeking at them through the partially open door.  Rin let out a half-hearted grunt.

“You little critters! Weren’t you supposed to be asleep already?”

They opened the door even wider, and froze in place the moment they properly noticed the boy in Rin’s arms.  Ren grabbed at her sister’s arm in surprise.

 “Is—Is that Princess Ai?!”

Rin couldn't help but chuckle.

“Yes! And what did I tell you about privacy?”

 ~*~*~

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> The Oryx Princess story is based on Michel Ocelot's "Les Contes de la Nuit" 's last story: "La fille-biche et le fils de l'Architecte". Please consider watching this amazing and beautiful piece of art.


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